Posted by on Dec 6, 2017 in Business | 0 questions

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As we age, we all have varying concerns, whether it is due to your health, or how it may impact you when you retire, or your finances. Depending on your choice of career, you may find that your job naturally has a shelf life once you hit a certain age. Either you are unable to continue because it is too physical, the hours are too rigid to maintain, or, very simply, you have had enough of the job. And so, this begs the question, is getting a second income later on in life feasible? As we age, we find that we have a lot fewer options to play with, this is a sad state of affairs, but it is true. So, what are the impacts of attempting to get a second income, either before you retire, or after you have given up work?

Does It Get Harder As You Get Older?

The way it used to be was that the nature of work was a more physical one. So, now when it comes to looking for alternative careers, the options are as far reaching as your imagination can go. Now, this isn’t to say that it’s an ideal scenario where you can get consistent work, but there are websites like Entrepreneur.com that provide infinite resources on how to make it as a freelancer, in this respect, a list of freelance websites that you can utilize to do various jobs. Of course, the very nature of a freelancer is that it’s never always irregular income, and to get to that point, it means a lot of hard work beforehand. But as far as a diverse career later in life is concerned, you would be hard pushed to find anything else that caters to a retirement based lifestyle. The great thing about freelancing in this day and age is that you can work from home. So, with regards to the impacts on you if you were, for example, someone approaching their mid to late 60s, and are looking for ways to wind down, but still need a regular income coming in, this is a very suitable option.

The Nest Egg Approach

If you have a concern about what happens when you have to give up work, and there isn’t much in the way of income making its way into your bank account, most people have thought about a nest egg. Naturally, the first thing that springs to mind is investing in property. Property is always going to be a sensible option as far as investments are concerned because people will always need somewhere to live. But the one question you have to ask yourself when investing in property is that if you are able to maintain it? Lots of people have gone down the buy to let approach, in other words, becoming a landlord and looking after that property, taking rent from tenants or working with an estate agency. But, the hardest part of all is finding the right property. It’s not just about picking somewhere that is cheap enough anymore because if you want to guarantee a sufficient return on investment, you will have to do the appropriate legwork. This means lots and lots of research, whether it is through researching reputable housing agencies like TJLamb.com and then working with these estate agencies to develop a productive working relationship that benefits you, the tenant, and the agency, this is a very difficult balance to get right. By looking at agencies and picking one that suits your budget and intentions, this may mean a lot of headaches in the legwork. And, contrary to popular belief, it’s not about finding the right agency so they can do most of it for you. You still have a major part to play in the process. And, while they will be able to sort out pressing issues, for example, maintenance, you still need to be contactable and need to give the authority for certain works to go ahead, even in an emergency scenario. But the big concern with the nest egg approach is that it’s something that takes a long time to accrue money with. So, if you are concerned, especially if you are approaching middle age, this might be a very suitable option, because you have the luxury of time.

Starting A New Career

This is something that lots of people do when they approach middle age now. Once upon a time, it would have been a given that you had one job that you had for life, but this is seldom the case nowadays. The big question you need to ask yourself if you are considering a new career is that if you are capable of achieving your goals in this chosen career. We are all entitled to start again, and sometimes we decide to do something that is completely different to our original career because we need new challenges and new experiences in life. But, from a perspective on earning another income, especially if you are hoping to pad out your finances for retirement, means a lot of climbing up the career ladder. So, in other words, you will be starting out from the bottom. And lots of people cannot bear the idea of starting out from the bottom, and even now, students who have just graduated from college, complete with qualifications under their belts, still have to start from the bottom. Starting a new career is always an eye-opening experience, both in positive and negative ways, but if you are prepared for a lot of hard graft, then it will be worthwhile.

In addition to these, you may want to think about alternative investment methods, we’ve seen the rise of Bitcoin, and even gold has had a lot more press now. And, with the precarious finances and exchange rates in the world, people are thinking more about alternative means of investment. Getting another income later on in life, either to top up your existing earnings or to start another, more lucrative, career path comes with its risks. These are the main concerns you have to think about, so if you go freelance, it can be a lucrative contract with a lot of legwork. The same applies if you are planning on starting a new career or investing in a property, but the one lesson to take away from all of these is that if you are trying to set up a better financial future, you should start now.